Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has delivered his verdict on Eddie Howe’s future at St James Park.

Sam Allardyce has described Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer as ‘totally out of order’ after he made comments about the future of Magpies manager Eddie Howe.

Talk of what could lie ahead for the United boss has increased in recent weeks after his side were punished for a dismal second-half display in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie against Barcelona before suffering consecutive Premier League defeats against Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth. Those results have left Newcastle in fourteenth place in the table and the mood around Tyneside has been a somewhat sombre one as a challenging away day at title contenders Arsenal lies in wait this season.

Former Magpies captain Shearer has assessed the situation at his old club as speculation has increased over Howe’s position and even admitted he did not see the former Bournemouth boss being in charge when next season gets underway.

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast earlier this weekend, Shearer said: "There are so many moving parts with it for him. If all things are equal then, yes, I would like him to [stay]. But does he feel as if he is going to have the chance? Does he want to do it again? Are Newcastle going to have to sell? If he has money to spend and he doesn't have to sell then, yeah. But I looked at the players yesterday and if that was what they call fighting for their manager because he is under huge pressure. Whether you like it or not. They were terrible. They chucked him under the bus, the players. The performance was c--p from every single one of them.

"It is a tough situation, a tough summer for Newcastle coming up. They have got some big decisions to make. As I am sat here, I don't see Eddie in charge of Newcastle next season, unfortunately. I look at his interview after the game and I am not sure the fight is there. It is a very different club now to the one that he would want to go forward. He doesn't look in a good position."

Reputation

However, former Newcastle and Sunderland boss Allardyce has accused the Magpies legend of casting doubt over Howe’s future to aid ‘his own popularity’ with supporters and ‘should know better’.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce said: "He's totally out of order. He's just doing it for his own popularity again with Newcastle fans; he should know better than to do that. Mind you, he's a pundit, and he needs to keep his reputation up, and you need to criticise if you're a pundit, don't you? Eddie probably knows (that the end of the road) is coming. We all have our life span. Sir Bobby Robson was one of the best, but even he got stick. We all get stick if we don't do well no matter who we are and we all get moved on."

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